LeBron James, affectionally called King James, took to Instagram on Friday, December 20, to announce that he’s officially the NBA all-time leader in minutes. To do so, he passed six-time NBA MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most minutes played in the history of the NBA.
James has enjoyed one of the greatest NBA careers of all time, and some thought he would have retired by now, but the fact that he keeps snagging records shows that he knows what he’s doing by staying in the NBA.
LeBron James Posts About Latest Career Achievement
“Last night became the NBA All-Time Leader in Minutes!” James wrote on Instagram along with a proud photo of himself. “Crazy to even think about! Very thankful and blessed! Been a helluva ride. 1 million minutes Wilt style,” he added with a bunch of laughing face emojis.
James reached that achievement on Thursday, December 19, when the Los Angeles Lakers played the Sacramento Kings. Loss Angeles won that game in a 113-100 final score.
So, now, James is the NBA player with the most minutes, and he’s followed by Abdul-Jabbar. After those two, the NBA player with the third most minutes is Karl Malone, followed by Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett, per the NBA. Abdul-Jabbar clocked 57,446 minutes played, Malone had 54,852, Dirk Nowitzki held 51,368 and Kevin Garnett had 50,418.
Before this feat, James was already the all-time leader in career points. During the Lakers vs. Kings game, James had 34 minutes in the game, giving the star 57,471 in 1,517 games played.
That’s not all, either. During that game, James also reached the 10,000-point threshold with Los Angeles. He’s No. 13 in team history at 10,002. Los Angeles celebrated James’ 10,000-point honor in a social post stating, “Welcome to the LA 10K club, King.”
LeBron James Discusses His Dedication to Basketball
After Following the Lakers’ win on Thursday, James spoke with the media about how he keeps in tip-top shape to continue to reach these career milestones.
“It’s just a commitment to the craft and to the passion and love I have for the game,” James said. “I don’t take much time in the offseason. A little bit more time now.”
He also that he “didn’t take much time in the offseason, no matter if I was making the 10 Finals appearances back to back and just always trying to keep my body in tip-top shape.”
He also talked about how important Rui Hachimura was to the win against the Kings.
“He’s been great,” LeBron James said regarding Hachimura after Saturday’s win. “He’s paying attention to detail. He knows what we’re doing every single night. We rely on him.”
James added, “He’s a big piece of our puzzle. The biggest possession of the game was an offensive rebound vs. one of the best rebounding bigs in our league [in Domantas] Sabonis. It was super key and helped us win the game.”
The Lakers take on the Detroit Pistons at home on Monday, December 23, and James is currently listed as “questionable” to play due to some kind of foot issue.